How Businesses Can Win On YouTube Using VidIQ With Liron Segev

Last updated on June 15th, 2024

VidIQ is a great service, platform, and set of tools that YouTube channels, creators and businesses can use to up their game, grow their audience and win on YouTube. In this podcast we focus in mostly on how businesses use YouTube, so could we think today in terms of – if you will – business creators, or businesses who want to do YouTube right.

TRANSCRIPT:

Dane Golden:
It’s time for the VidAction Podcast. This is the podcast where we help marketers and business owners just like you get more value out of your video marketing efforts.

Dane Golden:
My name is Dane Golden from VidAction.tv where we help you up your game on YouTube and transform your viewers into loyal customers. And our other company is VidTarget.io, where we help you save time and money through more targeted YouTube ads. Along with my co-host. She’s the powerhouse video marketer from San Francisco. It’s R-E-N-E-E T-E-E-L-E-Y from VideoExplained. Hello, Renee.

Renee Teeley:
Hello, Dane. I think I’m going to update my LinkedIn title to say powerhouse video marketer from San Francisco. I love that!

Dane Golden:
Powerhouse!

Renee Teeley:
So good. Today I am overjoyed to be co-hosting this podcast with you.

Dane Golden:
But are you thrilled?

Renee Teeley:
I’m thrilled. I’m overjoyed. I’m delighted. I’m ecstatic. I am all of the things.

Dane Golden:
She’s all the things! And Renee, what do you do at VideoExplained?

Renee Teeley:
Oh, I do so many things at VideoExplained. But as a company, we provide video production and consulting services. So we primarily work with businesses to help them use video to drive strategic results. So that could be building credibility, getting more leads and converting more leads into customers. The aspect that I enjoy about the business the most. Is really teaching people about video production and video strategy.

Dane Golden:
Okay, and for you, the listener. You should always know that you can follow along in your podcast app with a transcript and links. And you’re going to want to do this because today we have a special guest Liron Segev from VidIQ. He’s also known as TheTechieGuy. Welcome Liron.

Liron Segev:
What is going on? What an introduction!

Dane Golden:
Liron, we asked you on today because VidIQ, now this is my description. We want to know yours, of course. But it’s a great service that a Renee and I use. It’s a platform, it’s a set of tools that help YouTube channels, creators and businesses, use to up their game, grow their audience and win on YouTube. Now on this podcast, we focus mostly on how businesses use YouTube. So, hopefully we can think of today in terms of business creators or businesses that want to do YouTube right. Does that work for you?

Liron Segev:
Absolutely! YouTube is an awesome platform, regardless of who you are. If you’re a content creator and individual, or you’re a business trying to use it as a funnel or whether you just want to do better marketing. Absolutely! YouTube is for you. I cannot wait to dive into this today.

Renee Teeley:
Awesome! I could not agree with you more on that. So before we dive in and talk about what VidIQ does specifically or how to use the platform. Can you talk a little bit about the types of businesses that can benefit from using VidIQ? And maybe some examples of how it helps them.

Liron Segev:
Well, I suppose if you’re a business and you want to generate an income. Well, this is for you, right? And which business does not want to generate an income? It’s all about leads. It’s about the income. It’s about understanding an audience. Building that behind the scenes. Building that engagement and giving your business a bit of a face. Something that people can relate to.

Liron Segev:
Because most of us don’t get up in the morning and go, “Wow! I wonder what my toothpaste company is up to.” It’s just not part of our psyche, not what we do. But we do wonder what our favorite channels are up to. Our favorite creators are up to. And when I use the word creator. Yes, a business can be an awesome and amazing creator.

Liron Segev:
And we work with lots of such businesses just as you do. You know the power of video for a business. YouTube is an amazing platform for it. And that’s what we do at VidIQ. We help creators whether you’re an individual, whether you’re a Fortune 50 company and everybody in between.

Dane Golden:
Now the basic version is free, right?

Liron Segev:
Absolutely!

Dane Golden:
Okay. So, now I know you have some paid versions. I’m a paying customer. What are some of the features a YouTube channel can get from the free version? And if you could explain the benefits with an angle on how a business might use it.

Liron Segev:
Absolutely! So we do. We want to make YouTube accessible to everyone. So we do offer a free version. And the difference between the various versions essentially boils down to the amount of information that one unlocks. So if you’re an individual or you’re a business. You get access to something like a competitor tracking. And competitor’s a bit of a strong word, but in the business sense, it makes sense, right?

Liron Segev:
If you’re a restaurant, you want to know what your other restaurants are up to. If you are trying to sell a specific. You want to know what your competition is up to. How are they using YouTube? How are they using videos? And we expose all that for you. Nothing dodgy, nothing weird. This is just the YouTube algorithm at work. And we just make that information available to you.

Liron Segev:
So for example, the difference between a free version and a paid for version is simply the number of competitors that you can track. On the free version it’s three. On the paid version you can go up to 20. As a typical example. But things like keyword research and things like understanding what’s working on your channel versus what isn’t working on your channels. Very important to a creator, to a business trying to understand how YouTube works. And we expose that information.

Liron Segev:
We simply tell you: Look, you have a choice. Do you want to spend hours and hours sifting through YouTube analytics and exporting to CSV file and doing all that good stuff? Or do you want to push a button to be know what’s working and what isn’t working? I like the latter, I like to understand what’s working for me. I want somebody to tell me that I must just do more of this kind of content. This is the content my audience is loving. This is the content my audience is engaging with. Great! I need to make more of that kind of content.

Renee Teeley:
Yeah. There’s tons of value that can come from figuring out what’s working, so you can do more of it. And what isn’t working so you can do less of it.

Liron Segev:
Less of it.

Renee Teeley:
So, what would you say is one of the most common misconceptions for businesses about YouTube? So for example, your brand page says YouTube shouldn’t be a repository for your old kind of 30 second advertisements. Don’t pay and pray that your audience sticks around with inauthentic campaigns. So what else can brands do? Or what else are brands doing that’s really kind of the wrong approach?

Liron Segev:
Yeah. So unfortunately we do see a lot of that. We do see a lot of brands who have commissioned an agency or a company to create this amazing content. That’s supposed to go on air, be it on TV. And then they simply take that same video clip and they say, “Oh, I have a video clip. Let me dump it onto YouTube or let me dump it onto TikTok or let me dump it onto Instagram.” Or any of the platforms. And that’s simply doesn’t work.

Liron Segev:
The YouTube isn’t about that. It’s not to go and watch your old 30 seconds commercial. Nobody wants that. Just like, Yes. What we do want, we do want to know about you, about you as the brand. We want to know what are you up to. We want to know the behind the scenes. What makes the office tick? We want to be connected to people.

Liron Segev:
And YouTube is an amazing opportunity. And unfortunately, a lot of the brands that are missing the trick because they say, “I have this video file, let me get more bang for my buck. Let me simply dump it onto this platform.” Absolutely wrong the approach! Please stop doing that! You do not build an audience. You did not build trust. And you certainly do not build your channel that way.

Dane Golden:
And what about, you have different levels of service? Let’s talk about those. There’s the Pro Boost, Boost+. What are they all about?

Liron Segev:
So essentially, the free version is exactly that. It’s free, right? To the pro version, just simply unlocks more of the analytic stuff. Of the stuff that helps you understand what’s working and what isn’t. The Boosts, now that’s the baby! That’s the one you want to go for. Because that is the one that really unlocks a lot of your own channel’s potential.

Liron Segev:
YouTube has made up of three Ds, as I like to teach it. The first D, is you got to be discovered. If YouTube doesn’t know about your content. Well, it just might as well not even be there. But once YouTube knows about your content, the second D is delivering. Are you delivering the content? You as the brand, are you engaging with your audience? Are they receptive to the kind of content that you’re putting out there? Are you delivering?

Liron Segev:
Because when you deliver YouTube unlocks the third D, which is distribution. This is when things go viral, for lack of a better word. But this is where things really start to get distributed. Customers love what you do. I’ve never seen customers love commercial on TV. But I have seen customers love commercials on YouTube. Because they’re just done in such a great story telling, it’s funny, it’s engaging. And then they distribute that kind of content.

Liron Segev:
So, the various kind of platforms are just unlocking more and more value out of your channel, you simply get exposed to more information. Then the final one is the Boost+, where we do all of this, but plus we give you a coaching session. Where we sit with you and we’d go through your channel. We go through what’s working and what isn’t and we simply help you figure it out. So you’re not just left with these set of tools to do with it as you will.

Renee Teeley:
That’s great! So you do one on one kind of consulting with companies. And then also one of the things I love is you guys do channel audits?

Liron Segev:
Yeah.

Renee Teeley:
So, both on your YouTube channel, and I’ve also seen you do this at in-person conferences. So what, that and I know most of the time when you’re doing channel audits. It’s for creators rather than businesses. But what are some of the most common kind of pieces of advice that you give people when you’re doing the channel audits. So if there kind of certain themes that come up time and time again?

Liron Segev:
Oh, absolutely! And it’s exactly that. It’s whether it’s, you’re a single creator with one subscriber or whether you’re the like of GoPro and Red Bull with millions of subscribers. That is actually common. And that’s the beautiful thing about YouTube. It gives everybody the opportunity to be discovered. It gives everyone the opportunity to get that engagement going.

Liron Segev:
So, some of the common advice that will be give is, thumbnails and titles. You have to get those rights. And by the way, it’s not thumbnail by itself and a title by itself. But it’s thumbnails and title in combination. When you have an amazing thumbnail. It only has one mission. To get someone to stop what they’re doing. Stop the scroll and then read your title. And together they make a decision whether somebody clicks on it. A lot of amazing content simply doesn’t do that. And therefore doesn’t get the click. Doesn’t get the view. So essentially the entire video is almost wasted.

Liron Segev:
So, I would say the common denominator between content creators and businesses. By the way, internationally because we do this around the world. It’s thumbnails and titles are always a second thought. Don’t let that be an afterthought. It’s got to be part of the strategy. Branding is super important.

Liron Segev:
If you especially, if you’re a business. Your channel banner, your thumbnail needs to have the feel. And why I call it the 10,000 thumbnail test. If I take three of your thumbnails from your channel and I stick it into a bucket with 10,000 other thumbnails. Can I easily find yours? If I cannot. Your brand is not on point.

Liron Segev:
So you’ve got to make sure that the same rules of branding does actually apply to the YouTube platform as well. So there’s lots of those nuances that once you get right things really start to click together, figuring it out. And then taking those channels to that next level.

Dane Golden:
And I guess we’re going a little bit meta here because we talk about businesses a lot. VidIQ, in addition to being a great tool and teaching materials on your YouTube channel. You are a business that is teaching customers with your YouTube channel and also your podcast. Let’s talk a little bit about what you talk about on there? Both the podcast, the live streaming and the YouTube channel.

Liron Segev:
Yeah. So for us, we using the platforms as ways to engage. So we look at YouTube, as people want short snippets. They would rather have five, 10 minutes of good video versus consuming an hour worth of video. For a video, you really need to be focused. You need to be watching a screen. You need to be engaged. You need to be invested. So the platform YouTube For Us, 10 minute clips.

Liron Segev:
If you want to go deep. And you want to go in down all these dark alleyways, as you’re exploring various topics. That’s what the podcast is for, theater of the mind. As you’re driving or doing other things. This conversation is happening very much like this. We diving into topics and people are able to consume that information in that way.

Liron Segev:
We have a blog. Where people like to read and you know what? Blogs are great copy and paste is still a thing in 2020. As we recording this today. People still want that information that they could print and take it with them and make notes.

Liron Segev:
So we like to be where the people are and various platform. We just have a different approach to each platform. Where we focus on different things just to give the audience a choice. How would you like to consume this information? And if you want the Academy, if you want the real courses. We have that too, as part of our Boost platform as well.

Renee Teeley:
That’s great! I really love the way that you described your podcast, is theater for the mind. It is a great podcast! The podcast is TubeTalk. And I’m not just saying that I love the podcast because I’ve been a guest on the show. But it’s packed full of really amazing, valuable content. So really good.

Renee Teeley:
So I know in addition to a lot of the kind of thought leadership stuff that you do. Rob Wilson also is creating content for VidIQ on your YouTube channel. A lot of really incredible tutorials. Can you talk a little bit about some of the tips and topics that he covers in the YouTube series?

Liron Segev:
Absolutely! So we look at YouTube again as the way to educate. Because we are the brand. We are the business. And our business is about serving you as our customer. So we go through our tickets. We go through our help desk. We go through what people are requesting. And we just want to make it as simple as possible for them to find an answer to a question.

Liron Segev:
People forget that YouTube is the world’s second largest search engine. And what are you do in a search engine? You ask questions. So a lot of our strategy that Rob Wilson does together with the rest of our marketing team. Is we look to make it simple for you as the end consumer, if you’re an individual or a business. You still have the same questions. How can I get ranked on YouTube? How I can get subscribers? How can I get views? Tell me about affiliates? Tell me about playlists? Tell me about descriptions? And we just make sure that we make videos around those.

Liron Segev:
So it’s not necessarily, push VidIQ. No, it’s about helping you succeed. Because when you succeed, you’re going to go to the thought leader that helped you get there. And therefore we hope that you’ll use VidIQ as part of your journey. And if not, that’s totally fine. This is why I love streams are free. There’s no barrier to entry. We just want to see people succeed. And when they do, we’re happy to share in that success as well.

Renee Teeley:
Excellent! Liron Segev, how can people find out more about you and VidIQ? And how businesses can grow on YouTube? And by the way, could you please also spell your name? So people know how it’s spelled?

Liron Segev:
Absolutely! If you are into tech, if you’re into phones, gadget apps and faster wifi. And all that good stuff that we all absolutely need. Find me on my personal channel. Which is Liron Segev, that’s L-I-R-O-N and the surname is Segev, S-E-G-E-V or look for TheTechieGuy. And I’ve got a blog, thetechieguy.com.

Liron Segev:
And if you want all this amazing goodness from VidIQ. Absolutely, go look for VidIQ on all the social media platforms. That’s V-I-D-I-Q, I’m sure they’re going to be some links in the show notes that Dane and Renee will put in here as well. But, VidIQ on YouTube. Lots of wealth of information. All available to you. Come and find us. Come and chat.

Dane Golden:
Excellent! Thank you, Liron Segev. My name is Dane Golden with my cohost, she’s R-E-N-E-E T-E-E-L-E-Y, Renee Teeley. And we want to thank you the listener for joining us today. Don’t we Renee?

Liron Segev:
Yes, absolutely! And we hope that you love this podcast, just as much as we do.

Dane Golden:
And I want to invite you to review us on Apple Podcasts. And if you can’t find that review button on your podcast app. Click the share button instead. It’s right next to where the review button should have been. And let your friends know that we’d also like to help them with video marketing tips via this podcast.

Dane Golden:
Renee and I do this podcast and our various other YouTube videos and other projects. Because we love helping marketers and business owners, just like you do YouTube and video marketing better. Thanks to our special guest Liron Segev. Until next week here’s to helping you help your customers through video.